


Detroit's Beauty

by EmmaTheRevelator (MaybeItWasMemphis), MaybeItWasMemphis



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, May/December Relationship, Older Man/Younger Woman, Romance, Smut, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:02:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 26
Words: 15,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22629055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/EmmaTheRevelator, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/MaybeItWasMemphis
Summary: When Diego de los Santos hears of a sex slave auction going down in his territory, he goes to shut it down...never expecting to find the beauty to his beast.REPORT FROM OLD ACCOUNT
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story follows a mobster (not reformed) and a younger (teenage) woman. This is not a story about Prince Charming and Snow White. If you don't like bad boys, go and find something else to read.

_“The flower that blooms amid adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.”_

**\- Disney’s ‘Mulan’ (1998)**

Diego arrived back at his penthouse apartment at Riverfront Towers after a long day of dealing with business at his antiquities firm... both kinds of business. He was the newest (and youngest) boss in Michigan's five families, having only taken the helm of the Detroit territory five years earlier. For some reason, the other families seemed to think that young (was thirty-eight really that young?) meant weak. He was slowly proving them wrong. Every time they moved against Detroit, he retaliated with double the amount of force but... this shit was tiring him out. Just that morning, Lito, his underboss, discovered that three of the employees at the antiquities warehouse were plants from the O'Brian family who were gathering information on the de los Santos operation. They had been dealt with but, after that, he had been needed to deal with actual legitimate business. De los Santos Antiquities was under audit by the IRS (as it was every year) and Diego had been needed for questioning by the government accountant. The questioning had taken three fucking hours. Now, he was home, he was alone, and all he really wanted was to get laid. He was a man. He wasn't ashamed to admit it.

He was just thinking of taking a shower and heading out to The Penthouse Club to see if he could pick up an easy lay when his front door opened and Lito walked in. “You need you see this.” He threw a thin catalog in his lap.

Diego picked it up and immediately felt like he was going to be sick. This was no catalog that you would receive in the mail. This catalog had a photograph of a half-naked little girl on the cover and the poor thing looked terrified. “What is this shit and why the fuck did I need to see it?” He opened the catalog against his better judgment. The pages were full of photographs of girls between the ages of five and eighteen who were... for sale. Their ages, measurements, and virginal status were all listed like they were animals up for adoption at the local animal shelter. Poor kids. Animals would be treated better.

“This is an auction going down at Higgins place tonight and he's telling anyone who asks that he's operating with your blessing.”

Diego saw red. Sid Higgins was the sleaziest criminal in town. He owned a dive bar along the International Waterfront and was always coming up with different ways to make a quick buck. Diego usually looked the other way when it came to the shit that Higgins got up to – he was too small time for him to worry about. Well, it looked like Sid had decided to step-up his game... but there was no way in hell this auction was going down. Not in Detroit. Not in Diego's territory.

“Call Nancy and have her get in touch with Detective Goodwin. Have her give him the catalog and tell him what you just told me, just leave out Higgins’ name. I'll deal with that son of a bitch myself.” Diego got to his feet.

Nancy Rios, was his long-suffering private attorney. Detective George Goodwin worked for DPD and was forever trying to bust him for something.

“You wanna bring the cops in on this?” Lito looked surprised.

“These girls are going to need places to stay, people to look after them and we can't handle that. Plus, if I give Goodwin a big bust, maybe he'll stay the fuck off my ass for awhile.” Maybe if the good detective got his pretty face in the papers he would back off harassing him for a week or two. Stranger things had been known to happen. “Give me two hours and then call Nancy,” were his orders as he hauled his tired ass out his penthouse door.


	2. Chapter 2

The inside of Higgins' Bar was packed... and Higgins' was never packed. A person was likely to pick up some kind of infection from a dirty glass or a parasite from under-cooked food. Not only was the dingy bar packed but the men who were hanging around nursing drinks were not Higgins' regular low-life customers. These were well-dressed, important men. Diego spotted one of the partners from the law firm where Nancy was employed. There was a doctor from the children's hospital and the Mayor's little brother. He mentally took note of the familiar faces so he could deal with them later.

Diego walked up to the bar and took silent glee in the panic that washed over Higgins' rat-like face when he saw him.

“Mr. Del los Santos, sir. Ho... how can I help you tonight?” Higgins' eyes darted towards the brown wooden swinging door that led to the storage room. Well, at least Diego now knew where the girls were being kept.

Diego held up a finger to silence the terrified bar owner as he took out his cell phone and sent a text message to Lito.

_***Girls are in the storage room.***_

Once he was done, he turned his attention back to Higgins... who was now nervously polishing a beer stein with a dirty dishtowel. “What's this I hear about an auction going down tonight?” He casually leaned his hip against the old wooden bar. “And why the fuck wasn't my permission sought?”

“My guy, Tony, told me that we had your okay, Mr. Del los Santos...”

The little rat was lying through his rotted yellow teeth. Number one, he didn't have a guy named Tony. Higgins was too small time to have anyone working underneath him. He wasn't a boss. Number two, everyone and their mother knew the consequences of bringing drugs or the sex trade into Detroit. Diego didn't allow it, never had, never would. He had his crew trying to clean up the streets, not make them dirtier. “We even got you a real nice present for your generosity, Mr. Del los Santos, sir.” Higgins seemed to be thinking on his feet now and Diego was willing to play along for a little while longer. The longer Higgins thought he was going to live, the better. It would make it that much sweeter when Diego finally put a bullet between his eyes.

“Let's see it,” Diego nodded.

Higgins set down the glass and rag and quickly opened the bar divider to allow him to follow him back into the kitchen and down a hallway that led to a small office area. When the bartender opened the dinky plywood door, Diego was not prepared for the sight that greeted him.


	3. Chapter 3

A young, terrified woman with dark chestnut hair and big, round, and innocent brown eyes sat in the rickety wooden chair behind the desk, her hands bound in front of her with zip-ties. She had silent tears streaming down her face and she was wearing a dress that even J-Lo would have found to be too revealing. It was strapless and silver and would barely cover her ass when she stood up. She couldn't have been any older than eighteen or nineteen and Diego would admit that she was beautiful...in a girl next door kind of way.

“She just turned seventeen last month.” Higgins grinned like he was actually proud of himself for procuring the angel girl that sat in front of him. “Pure as the freshly fallen snow too. Her step-daddy couldn't afford her no more so he sold her for a pretty fair price...and you can have first crack at her, Mr. Del los Santos, sir.”

The weeping angel in the chair was the only thing that saved Higgins like in that moment. The poor girl had already been through enough, she didn't need to witness the little rodent's death.

Diego put on what Lito called his 'look of death' and turned to stare Higgins down. “She's leaving with me...and someone tipped off the cops to your little sale,” Diego growled low in his throat and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl shiver in terror. “We need to get you out of town. Meet me on the docks behind my warehouse, Pier 8, in two hours.”

Once he was alone with the girl, his first priority was making sure that she knew that he wasn't going to harm her in any way. She was probably very much of the impression that he was going to take her someplace horrible and rape her. He knelt down in front of her. “What's your name, querida?”

“Ru...Ruby.”

Diego reached out a hand to caress her cheek and could barely suppress the rage that came over him when she cringed away in terror. “I'm not here to hurt you – and I'm not gonna let anyone else hurt you either. My name's Diego.” He was speaking to her as soothingly as a guy like him knew how. “I was lying to Higgins to get him out of the way. I'm the one who called the cops.”

“Rea...really?” She finally looked up and caught his gaze. Damn, her eyes really were beautiful.

“Really,” he gave her a full-dimpled smile. The kind he knew drove women wild. Now, Diego wasn't cocky but he knew that he was appealing to women. “Can I get you out of here before the cops come? If you're here when they arrive you're going to go in the system with the other girls.”

Diego saw pure terror in Ruby's eyes at the mention of the foster system. “Please,” she begged, “get me out of here.”

“Come on, sweetheart,” he got back to his feet and held out his hand.

Once Ruby was on her feet, Diego discovered that he had been wrong. Her dress didn't cover her delectable ass at all and he didn't want the perverts outside in the bar eyeballing her. He shrugged out of his long brown suede coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. It looked like a circus tent on her tiny frame but it covered her up. No one got to look at a woman who was under his protection.


	4. Chapter 4

Diego kept Ruby's hand clasped tightly in his as he quickly led her through the kitchen, out of the crowded barroom, and out to the parking lot where his bodyguard, Logan, was waiting with his personal limousine. 

Logan exited the driver's seat and hurried around and held open the back passenger door. Diego helped Ruby into the backseat before following her in and sitting as close to her he dared while Logan closed the door behind them.

“How are you holding up, querida?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hoped that she wouldn't take it as a come on. His morals were loose but not loose enough to permit him taking advantage of a scared teenage girl, no matter how beautiful she was.

“I'm scared this is all some kind of trick,” Ruby admitted in a meek little whisper. “I'm scared that you are just trying to gain my trust so I won't fight you so much when you...fuck me.”

Diego winched internally. That disgusting word should never leave her pretty lips. Turning towards her, Diego gently grabbed Ruby's chin and forced her to look at him. “I would never force myself on a woman. I was raised better than that and, honestly, sweetheart, I don't need to.” He felt her shiver a little bit against him. What was that all about? “I would never touch you without your permission. It's your body. You're the only one who decides who gets the honor of touching it,” he told her firmly. “And you, querida, are not a woman to be fucked.” He saw a flash of hurt in her eyes and realized that his words had come out the wrong way. “Whores get fucked. A man makes love to a woman like you.”

*****  
Diego returned with Ruby to Riverfront Towers. He gave Logan orders to keep the car running before escorting Ruby up to his penthouse on the top floor.

Even though he had two guest rooms, Diego led Ruby upstairs to the master bedroom – to his room. Knowing that she didn't have anything to change into, he went to his large mahogany dresser and pulled out one of his blue silk pajama shirts. He handed it to her as she stood at the foot of the four-poster bed. “I'll have Logan run to Macy's to get you some things in the morning. For tonight, you can sleep in that.” Ruby, holding the shirt loosely in one hand, took a seat on the end of the bed. “What size are you, sweetheart?”

“Six,” she replied absentmindedly. “This is your room,” she turned her head to look at him. 

Diego paused. He had been rooting through a drawer for a pair of socks for her to wear. He stood up straight and slowly tuned in her direction. “You don't have to sleep in here if you don't want to, querida. I just figured that after what you've been through, you wouldn't want to be alone tonight. I can put you in one of the guest rooms if you would be more comfortable.”

“No,” Ruby said quickly as she frantically shook her head and her breathing became so fast and labored that it was bordering on panic attack territory. 

Diego quickly moved to take a seat at her side. “Just breathe, Ruby. You're welcome to stay in her with me for however long you want or to stay,” he assured her as he started rubbing her back. She was welcome in his room, in his bed, for the rest of her fucking life but he wasn't about to say that out loud and freak her out.

Ruby looked at him with tears pooling in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said with such sincerity that Diego's heart almost broke clean in half. The beautiful creature sitting on top of his scarlet duvet, who would soon be slipping into his black satin sheets, had obviously not been shown much kindness in her short life. He was going to have to change that. 

“You're welcome, querida.” He nodded towards a thick cherry stained door off to the right of the bed. “That bathroom's in there. Why don't you go and take a shower? It would probably help you relax. Tomorrow night we'll have a bonfire and burn that sorry excuse for a dress. It'll be fun. We'll roast smores.” The got a little smile out of Ruby. “Go on. My robe's on the back of the door. You can use it if you want. I have to run out for a little bit.”

“Where are you going? When will you be back?” Her level of anxiety appeared to be at code red.

“The bar I found you in was in my territory. I need to go and deal with the police and talk to my attorney. I won't be gone long. I promise.” He caressed her cheek. While he fully intended to keep to keep his promise he was also lying to her. There were just some things that angels should never be privy to.

Diego could see from the look on her face that Ruby didn't fully comprehend what he was talking about but she eventually nodded her head.

“My guy, Damian, is standing guard at the front door. If you need anything, talk to him. You have complete privacy and the run of the penthouse,” he made sure to assure her before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

Just like the idiot that Diego knew him to be, Higgins was waiting for him on the deserted pier behind his warehouse when he arrived. The little weasel should have run when he still had the chance. Too late now. The mouse was in the trap. 

“Mr. del los Santos, sir.” Diego wanted to laugh at the fact that Higgins was actually relieved to see him. Fucking. Moran. “The cops just raided my bar. You were fucking right!”

Diego casually strolled to Higgins' side. He grabbed the back of the shorter man's neck, forcing him to his knees.

“What the – ” The slimeball looked up at him in confusion. 

“Tell me, Sid,” Diego spoke so nonchalantly that you would think that he was discussing the score of the previous night's Tigers game. “What made you think that I would let you get away with selling little girls in my territory?” He reached inside his jacket and extracted his rarely used, pearl-handled .45. the gun was usually just for show. He didn't like to get his hands dirty. That's what he paid Lito to do. Taking care of problems is what Lito was good at but for the piece of shit in front of him, Diego was willing to be the one who got his hands dirty.

“Tony said we had your permission, sir!” Higgins sat on his knees with his hands in the air. For what reason, Diego didn't know. He wasn't the fucking cops.

Diego pulled a silencer from his pants pocket and screwed it on the barrel of his weapon. He took aim at Higgins' right knee and fired once. Usually, there was a feeling of disgust that came along with this part of his job. The Catholic in him would never let him forget that he was headed for an eternity in Hell for his chosen profession. But when he felt the recoil of his .45 a feeling of intense satisfaction washed over him. This was one of those rare times where he suspected that God would actually forgive him his sins.

Higgins fell to his back, clutching his knee on the wooden planks of the dock. The water was gently lapping below him, offering serenity in a moment that was far from serene. “Fuck!”

“There is no Tony, Sid. You know it and I know it. Now, do you wanna tell me the truth or do you wanna lose your other knee?” He aimed the gun at the injured man's left knee.

“Fine! I'll talk!” Higgins managed to pull himself into a seated position but said nothing further.

Diego fired once into the water. “I'm waiting!” He could feel his control over his temper starting slip away.

“A boss outta Lansing, Pete O'Brien, he paid me a lot of money to put the auction together for some of his more important clients.” This made sense. The O'Brian family made most of its money in the sex trade. Pete O'Brien ran a high-end call girl service and took a cut of every street whore's earnings in Lansing. “Pete told me that if you objected to just give you my prettiest, oldest teenager. He said that you wouldn't want a little girl.” Higgins was talking fast and not once did he take his eyes off of the barrel of the gun that Diego still had aimed at him.

O'Brien was smart. Diego wasn't a pedophile. Ruby might be underage but she was also far from being a child. She was barely under the age of consent in Michigan. He had heard all that he needed to hear. The cowering waste of life in front of him was of no further use to him. He raised the barrel of the gun and took aim between Higgins' beady little eyes. “See ya later, Sid.” His knuckles were white as he pulled the trigger and the bar owner's black soul departed the earth. 

“Logan,” he called over his shoulder, not turning to look back at him. 

“Yeah, boss?”

“Call JoJo and have him come clean this mess up,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

Ignoring the fresh corpse at his feet, Diego checked the time on his watch. It was only a little after ten. The Little Cuba Diner would still be open for another almost two hours. It was way too late to cook and he had no clue when the last time Ruby ate was. He decided to stop in and pick her up something. His dad would be happy to see him anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

His old man was surprised to see him when he walked through the door of the diner. “Chiquito,” Máximo de los Santos smiled at his son. God. Diego really hated when his father called him that in public. “What brings you here so late, mijo?” Máximo looked almost exactly like his son but thirty years older. There were crows feet around his eyes and when he showed his dimples it only seemed to make his leather-like skin more obvious. Máximo had spent thirty years working on the docks and the damage that had been done to his skin by the sun's rays and winter cold was plain to see.

“Business ran late,” Diego replied. His old man knew damn well what he did for a living and he in no way approved. For the sake of their forever fragile relationship, Diego never discussed work with his father. “Can I get dos fritas to go, Papá?”

Máximo quickly called the order back to his long-suffering twin brother, Diego's uncle Marco, in the kitchen.

“Either you are really hungry, mijo, or...you have a date,” Máximo smirked knowingly.

“Máximo, leave the boy alone,” Uncle Marco called from the kitchen.

Diego chuckled and shook his head. “It's neither, Papá. I'm just helping out a friend who's going through a hard time.”

“Good boy,” Máximo nodded approvingly. “You'll be rewarded in heaven. You'll see, mijo.”

“How would you know,” Uncle Marco called. “You no be there. Purgatory for you!”

If it wasn't a sight he saw almost every day, Diego would have laughed at his father and uncle throwing insults at each other in broken English. Eventually, they would revert to their native Spanish and the gloves would really come off.

“Well, if it isn't the pendejo who stole my husband on date night!”

Diego would know that overly accented voice anywhere. He put a smirk on his face before turning around on his stool to face Lito's wife, Annalie. “Lito still not home yet puta?” Now, normally, Diego wouldn't dare to speak to a woman like that but Annalie wasn't just any woman. She was five feet of Cuban sass that ran most people over with her loud, brutally honest personality. She could give as good as she got and was probably Diego's closest and only female friend.

“I really wish the two of you would stop calling each other names.” Máximo sighed. “You're practically family.” This coming from the man who had called his blood brother a bastardo not even two minutes earlier.

Diego and Annalie both laughed as Diego threw a friendly arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Papá. Annalie here is the sister that you and Mamá wouldn't give me...thank God. This is just how we show our affection.”

Máximo just shook his head before walking back to the kitchen to check on his son's order...and probably argue with Marco a bit more.

“You know damn well that Lito isn't home yet...although I will admit this is the first time he's ever been stuck at a police station and not been under arrest so that's a plus.” Annalie shrugged his arm off her shoulders. “Did you guys really bust up a sex-slave ring?”

Diego nodded as he got a sudden idea. Cue the animated lightbulb over his head. “Yeah...and I need your help with something.”

Annalie raised an eyebrow. “Don't you usually yell at Lito for telling me too much about work? Now you actually want my help with something?”

“This isn't about work,” Diego shook his head.


	7. Chapter 7

“When I went to check out the auction tonight, Higgins tried offering me a girl to let it go on,” Diego shared.

“That hijo de puta,” Annalie hissed in outraged disgust. 

“Annalie Magdalena Salazar!” Máximo poked his head out of the kitchen door and scolded her like the woman was a small child.

“Sorry, Max,” Annalie called back although Diego knew that she wasn't sorry in the least. That just wasn't her style.

“You want your usual dos cubanos?” Uncle Marco's voice called to Annalie from the kitchen. 

“And uno fricasé de pollo,” Annalie finished her order and they waited for the old men to retreat back into the kitchen. Once they were gone, she turned to Diego. “Go on,” she urged. “What do you need?”

“The girl – Ruby – she's seventeen and she's obviously been in the foster care system before and terrified of it so she's going to be staying with me. I'm going to have a chat with Nancy in the morning to see what we can do about getting her legally emancipated,” he shared his plans.

“I'm yours to command, boss,” Annalie happily offered her assistance. She had had a rough start in life herself, having been raised in the Detroit foster care system. If she hadn't have found Lito in high school there's no telling what would have happened to her. Lito kept the impulsively reckless Annalie in check and Annalie brought out the softer, non-underboss side of his very often robotically emotionless best friend. Annalie and Lito were two incredibly different pieces of the same messed up puzzle.

“She has no clothes, no nothing. I was going to have one of the guys pick her up some things in the morning –”

“Oh, hell no,” Annalie held up a hand to stop him from talking. “What size is she?”

“Six,” Diego smiled. “I figured that you would know better what to get her than say, Logan.”

“Damn straight,” Annalie nodded. “That poor girl's been through enough hell without Logan picking out her clothes.” Yeah, now that she said it like that, Diego had no clue what he had originally been thinking. Truth be told, he hadn't really thought about a lot. “I'll stop by tomorrow with a few outfits...just the necessities. When she's feeling up to it, I'm hijacking your credit card and taking her on a shopping spree.”

Diego knew he could count on Annalie. It would be good for Ruby to have another female around to confide in and go and do all the stuff that he sure as hell wasn't doing – shopping, nail salons, all that girlie shit. Annalie was well equipped to teach Ruby the ropes of being the spoiled girl of a made guy. He fully intended on spoiling her rotten so Ruby better learn quickly.

“Whatever you need to get her set up.” Diego reached into his suit pocket and pulled out his wallet to retrieve his black card.

“You are going to willingly hand over your credit card...to me of all people, the Queen of Shopping?” Annalie looked at him incredulously. She sat back and studied him for a moment before a look of shock came over her face. “You like her!” She gasped. “Diego, that's statutory rape,” she lowered her voice for what was probably one of the first times in her life.

“Only if I have sex with her before she turns eighteen,” Diego whispered back equally as quiet. “Now get your head out of the damn gutter.”

“¡Santo Cielo!” Diego had to shoot Annalie a glare to get her to lower her voice. “I think you more than like her!”

“Annalie Salazar!” Máximo appeared at the counter with Diego's order in a stapled up brown paper bag and Diego was silently thanking his father for the rescue. Annalie was a better interrogator than the police when she wanted to be.

“Sorry, Max,” Annalie pouted and batted her eyelashes and Máximo was actually dumb enough to fall for her schoolgirl routine. Sucker. 

Diego took the take-out bag from his father and handed him his credit card. “After you run it, give it to her,” he jerked his head in Annalie's direction. 

As he stood from his stool to leave, Diego leaned down and whispered to Annalie. “If you don't bug me anymore about Ruby you can get yourself something nice too.”

“I was gonna do that anyway,” Annalie called at his retreating back.

“Zorra!”

“Estúpido!”

“Diego Santiago! Annalie Magdalena!”

“Night, Papá,” Diego chuckled as he made his way out the door. When his father was using his middle name to yell at him, it was time to go.


	8. Chapter 8

When Diego arrived home it was to find Ruby curled up on the couch fast asleep. She was wearing his robe and she was clutching one of the black couch pillows to her chest like it was a lifeline. Being careful not to startle her, Diego took a seat atop the mahogany coffee table directly in front of her and set the takeout bag beside him. Leaning over, he reached out a hand and gently shook her shoulder.

Ruby shot up like a bottle rocket, panting for air and looking wildly around her. Diego realized that she was still half asleep and confused. She didn't know where she was and she didn't remember that she was no longer in harm's way. “Querida, calm down,” he spoke soothingly and reached out and lightly stroked her arm. “It's just me...Diego.”

It took a moment but once she fully woke up and realized who he was, Ruby instantly relaxed. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails.

“You don't have anything to be sorry for Ruby.” Now that she was awake, Diego moved to sit beside her on the couch. Testing her limits, he slid close to her and slipped his arm loosely around her shoulders. To his surprise, Ruby moved even closer instead of flinching and moving away. “You're in a new place and you're safe, sweetheart. I don't think you're used to feeling that way.”

Ruby shook her head. “My mom died of breast cancer when I was twelve. I'm an only child and don't have any other family so I stayed with my step-dad, Carl. He has a gambling problem and he drinks,” she surprised him yet again by opening up to him. “I've been in and out of foster care six times already. I had only been home a few months when Carl got in over his head with a loan shark. I was the easiest way to clear his debt.”

“What's your step-father's last name?” Diego tried to keep all traces of his anger out of his tone. He didn't want Ruby to think that it was in any way directed at her.

“Washington. His name is Carl Washington.”

It looked like Diego had a side job for Lito. Ruby's bastard of a step-father was NOT going to get away with what he had done to the girl that fate had tasked him with caring for and protecting. “Where are you from, querida?”

“Birmingham, Alabama.” That explained the slight southern twang that Ruby spoke with. It was incredibly subtle. That's why he hadn't been able to place it before.

That was all the information that Diego needed to know. He decided it was time to change the subject. He didn't want Ruby dwelling on her past. That was over. “Are you hungry?” He rubbed her shoulder. “I picked up some food from my old man's diner.”

“Would you be upset if I said that I just wanted to go back to sleep?” She turned her head to look at him.

“Not at all, sweetheart,” he shook his head and smiled. “You can always eat later when you wake up. Do you want to go to bed alone or do you want me with you?” He wanted to make it abundantly clear that it was 100% her choice.

“You with me,” Ruby said so quietly that Diego almost didn't hear her.


	9. Chapter 9

Diego stood and held out his hand to Ruby. She took it and allowed him to lead her up the circular metal staircase that was so narrow that it at times triggered Diego's claustrophobia.

Diego's bedroom took up half of the penthouse's second floor. A heavy, intricately carved wooden door guarded the entrance. The design carved into the wood depicted the Greek god Hypnos lulling a village to sleep. Beyond the door was a bedroom so large that it more closely resembled a loft apartment. A massive mahogany four-poster bed was placed in the center of the room, facing a pair of double doors that led to a private balcony that faced the Detroit waterfront. Off to one side of the was a cushy black sofa with red throw pillows and a glass coffee table in front of it.

Diego led Ruby to the massive bed and pushed back the scarlet cloth curtains. Ruby didn't feel comfortable removing his robe so he tucked her into the black silk sheets still wearing it. He retreated to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed. When he emerged he saw Ruby curled up on her side, hugging his pillow to her chest and sleeping peacefully. He couldn't help but think that she was exactly where she was meant to be...in his bed...in his life. What the holy hell was wrong with him? He had just met Ruby...but there was just something about her. She drew him to her without even trying to. Diego had never felt a pull this strong with anyone, ever.

Careful not to wake her, Diego climbed in bed beside her but made sure to keep his distance so he didn't freak her out. Being only a foot away and not able to touch her, to hold her, to make love to her – it was pure torture. But if it meant that he got to keep her, in the long run, he was willing to endure it for however long that he had to.

***

When Diego awoke, it was to find a very pleasant and decidedly feminine pressure atop his chest. Opening his eyes, he found that they had switched positions in the night. Ruby now lay curled up on his chest, her hair tickling his nose, and he had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

Diego chanced it and laid a kiss on top oh her head. Ruby stirred in his arms. When she finally opened her eyes she was almost immediately embarrassed. Her cheeks turned red and she quickly tried to pull away from him. “I'm so –”

Diego tightened his hold on her waist so that she couldn't get away. “Don't say you're sorry. You've done nothing wrong and I'm not upset querida.” Now he just needed to find a way to tell her that he enjoyed holding her without sounding like a creep...

“But I was laying on top of you all night,” she mumbled as she allowed him to direct her head back to lay on his chest. “That couldn't have been comfortable.”

Actually, he'd never slept better. “Querida, there was nothing uncomfortable about it.” He started to lightly stroke the arm that she had loosely draped over his abdomen. “You obviously needed someone to hold you. I was happy to do it.”

“Why?”


	10. Chapter 10

Ruby's question threw Diego for a moment. “Why what?”

Ruby sat up a little bit so she could look at him. “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me, buying me clothes, holding me while I sleep?”

Diego hadn't expected a woman as young as Ruby to be so inquisitive. He was surprised she was so smart and relieved that she was so suspicious and un-trusting. It would make it much easier for him to keep her safe in his dangerous world. “Can I tell you a story?”

Ruby nodded.

He couldn't believe what he was about to share with her but he did it anyway. “When I was about two, my old man hit the bricks. He used to work down on the docks and between the shit pay and the toll the physical labor took on his body he turned into a blackout drunk. He would bounce in and out of our lives until I was five...then he just disappeared and my mother divorced him. A year later she remarried this asshole who was a big wig down at the GM plant named Steve. He beat the shit out of both of us pretty much from the start. My dad cleaned up when I was twelve and kept trying to get custody of me but the courts kept shutting him down because of his past and because my step-dad had money. Money talks in this city. When I was fifteen I ran away. I met a man that took me off the streets and hired me as an errand boy for his business. I worked my way up from there. My mom died in an accident a year after I left. So, you see, querida, we're really not that different. Not everyone has the white picket fence childhood and we all need a hand up off the ground every now and then.” Before this conversation, he really hadn't thought about how alike the two of them really were. Crappy childhoods, asshole step-fathers, dead mothers – no wonder he was so drawn to her. They were kindred spirits.

“Not exactly a fairy tale,” was Ruby's response as she laid her head back down on his chest. Diego was surprised when he suddenly felt her gently running her fingers along his chest through his shirt.

“I don't know. It did kind of have a happy ending. I'm successful and my papá tracked me down when I was nineteen and we're good now. He owns the best Cuban diner in all of Michigan with my uncle. Once you're feeling up to it, I'll take you there for lunch and you can meet him.” He was sharing more with Ruby than he had shared with anyone else in his entire like. That included his father, Lito, and Annalie...combined.

“I'd like that, I think.” This time when Ruby looked at him, she didn't bother sitting up. She simply moved to lay her head on his shoulder so she could see his face. “So, your happily ever after is reconciling with your dad and being a...” she hesitated.

“Being a what?” He gave her hip a gentle tap.

“I'm not sure that I'm allowed to say it.” She looked a little scared and it hit him.

Ruby knew what he did for a living.

“A made guy?” He whispered the words in her ear while at the same time praying to a God that had probably stopped listening to him a long time ago that she wouldn't reject him and run away.

“Yeah.” She didn't pull away. She just laid there and stared at him. Her expression was unreadable.

“Does it bother you,” he asked her softly.

This time she sat up entirely and Diego immediately missed the warmth and softness of her body pressed against his. “I should...but it really doesn't.” She tucked a piece of sleep-tousled hair behind her ear. “I knew who you were when you walked into Higgins' office last night. You make the news a lot...even in Alabama. When I saw you, I felt like my worst nightmare was coming true but...you saved me.” He could hear the tears in her voice and he didn't want them to fall.

Her worst nightmare? Why would he be her worst nightmare? Diego felt like there was something that she wasn't telling him but he didn't press her for the information. She was getting upset enough as it was so he decided to shut the conversation down. He pulled her to lay down beside him and rolled on his side to face her just as she did the same thing. “Back to what we were talking about. My happily ever after is having my old man back in my life, a good life with good friends, and maybe, just maybe...I've found my princesa.” He hoped she knew that he was talking about her and her alone.

Ruby blushed and hid her face in her pillow. Diego figured that he had pushed his luck with her far enough for one morning. “We should probably be getting up, querida.” He reached out and ran his hand down her arm. “My friend, Annalie, is coming by with some clothes for you and my lawyer's coming over to discuss what we can do about getting you emancipated.”

“Okay,” Ruby agreed with a nervous smile.


	11. Chapter 11

Diego's attorney, Nancy Dios, was the first visitor to arrive at the penthouse that morning. Seeing as Ruby still didn't have any clothes, she stayed upstairs eating the breakfast that Diego had prepared for her while he met with Nancy in the living room. 

After Diego explained Ruby's situation to her, Nancy explained their options. 

“There are two ways for someone in Ruby's situation to become a legally emancipated minor.” The prim and proper lady lawyer who wore an 80's style power suit and glasses that looked like she had borrowed them from a boy wizard started pulling documents old of her brown leather briefcase. “The first option is to petition the court. That could take up to six months and you would have to jump through a lot of legal hoops. Ruby would have to prove to a judge that she's financially capable of supporting herself. She has to have a stable home and be enrolled in some type of high school program.”

While Diego planned on encouraging Ruby to finish her education, there was no way in hell any woman of his was working to pay the bills. If Ruby wanted to go to college and pursue a career in something she was interested in and passionate about, Diego was fine with it and would happily pay her way through school but he refused to allow her to take some dead-end job as a waitress or grocery store clerk. 

“Second option,” he prompted. 

Nancy pushed her glasses a little further up her nose. “She could get married.”

Now he was listening. The second option provided him with a way to save her from the bonds of childhood while also securing him what he wanted most...her.

“She's under eighteen, how could I marry her?”

“Diego, I said she could get married. I never said that you had to be the one to marry her.” Nancy gave him that patented look that she seemed to reserve just for him. A raised eyebrow and a half-sneer on her lips, the look was meant to convey the fact that she didn't approve of whatever he was saying or doing. She wore it frequently. 

While Nancy was one hell of a lawyer and could be counted on as a friend if the situation was right, she only saw the world in black or white. She didn't understand the gray areas in which Diego lived most of his life. Morally, Nancy was as by the book as you could get. Diego knew better than to reveal his intentions for Ruby in front of her. 

“There is no one else,” he snapped, making Nancy jump. “We can have it annulled or get divorced as soon as she turns eighteen. I'm trying to protect the girl here, Nancy. I don't want her father pulling this shit again.”

It was partially the truth. Diego did intend to protect Ruby – with his life if necessary. But any marriage he entered into with her would be as real as she would allow him to make it. 

“A marriage of convenience?”

Diego nodded. Nancy could believe whatever the hell she liked so long as he got what he wanted in the end. 

“Okay.” His words appeared to have appeased the older woman. “You would have to get parental consent for the marriage.” Nancy pulled a form from a dark green file folder that sat on the coffee table and handed it to him. “I'm sure you have ways of getting her deadbeat stepfather to sign it,” she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. 

Oh, he sure did.


	12. Chapter 12

As Nancy was leaving, Lito showed up with Annalie and his bodyguard Miguel. Poor Miguel looked like he was carrying half of a department store's worth of shopping bags.

“I thought you said you were just going to get Ruby the necessities, chica?” Diego raised an eyebrow at Annalie.

Miguel deposited the shopping bags beside the front door before beating a hasty retreat. After a morning spent with the queen of shopping, Diego couldn't blame the guy. Lito was wearing a sour look that told him that he too had been dragged along on his wife's morning retail adventure.

“There are necessities,” Annalie rolled her eyes. “I got Ruby a couple of outfits, some nightgowns, underthings, and some private lady stuff. You told me to get her set up and that's what I did.”

Diego did something that was extremely out of character for him. He walked up to Annalie and kissed her cheek. “Muchas gracias.”

Annalie's mouth fell open in shock. “Did you seriously just _thank_ me?”

“Don't get used to it, chica.” Diego rolled his eyes.

“Okay, where is this miracle worker of a girl?” Annalie started looking around the living room as though she was going to spy Ruby hiding behind the black curtains or something. “I think I need to at least meet her before I nominate her for sainthood.”

“Upstairs...waiting on some clothes,” he reminded her. 

“Oh, shit, yeah, right!” Annalie snapped her fingers before grabbing a couple of shopping bags and heading up the stairs.

Diego kind of felt bad for Ruby. Annalie was for sure about to use the younger woman as a human Barbie doll.

Once his wife was out of earshot, Lito turned to Diego with a pained expression on his face. “I need to release some stress after the morning I had with my princesa. Please, tell me that you have a job for me where I get to fuck someone up or do some kind of serious damage?”

Diego smirked before proceeding to tell Lito that he was taking a trip to Alabama.

Lito crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “I'm down for the job, hermano. Ruby's papá will be very sorry that he ever met me.” His smirk was downright evil. “When am I doing this?”

“The sooner, the better,” Diego replied. “I want all of Ruby's ties to that pendejo cut immediately.”

He also wanted to make her his bride as soon as possible.


	13. Chapter 13

When Annalie returned downstairs to join the men in the living room, she wasn’t alone. Ruby was with her and, damn, did she look good. Diego had to hand it to Annalie, she knew how to dress people. His girl was wearing a pair of white skinny jeans and a long, pink cashmere sweater that fell off one shoulder, exposing just enough of her creamy skin to make his pants tighten uncomfortably. He was grateful he was sitting down.

“You look beautiful, querida.” Diego smiled at her, making her blush. He loved that he could make her do that.

“Thanks.” Ruby smiled before taking a seat beside him on the couch. “Annalie has really great taste.”

“So,” Annalie made her way over to where Lito was seated in the armchair in front of the double wooden and glass doors that led out to the balcony. Lito, a man that most of the city of Detroit was terrified of, almost immediately wrapped a gentle arm around his wife’s waist. “I was asking Ruby about what she likes to do, and she told me that she really likes to read. I was thinking, I have a running tab at Rowling Books. I go every Monday to pick up my magazines. Maybe we could set Ruby up with an account too and she could start coming with me. That’s also the day that I go and get my hair and nails done. She could tag along for that too. It would get her out of the penthouse and help her get to know the city a little bit better.”

Diego didn’t know why Annalie had taken so well to Ruby, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If Annalie wanted to take his girl under wing, he wasn’t about to question it. He nodded and wrapped his arm around Ruby’s shoulders. He was forced to hold back a smirk when he felt her scoot closer and lean into his side. “I think that would be a great idea if that’s what you want, hermosa." He looked down at her.

Ruby nodded with a small smile on her face.

“Speaking of you two going out.” Lito lightly smacked Annalie’s thigh. “Why don’t you take Ruby on that shopping trip you were talking about this weekend? I’m gonna be out of town for a few days.”

“Where the hell are you going this time, nene?” Annalie hugged in annoyance.

“Doesn’t matter,” Lito shook his head.

“Yes, it does! I’m your wife!”

Diego could sense one of the Salazar’s epic arguments coming on, so he decided to step in and offer Annalie more information before they all ended up on an episode of _Live P.D_. “He’s going to Birmingham.”

Ruby looked up at him sharply. “Why?”

“Because there’s a form we need your step-father to sign so we can get you emancipated.”

“Is Lito gonna…you know?” Ruby’s southern twang was a bit more pronounced as she eyed him nervously.

Lito and Annalie had stopped arguing and were now watching both intently. It was like Diego and Ruby were interesting characters on some daytime soap opera.

“Do you want to, mi sol?” Diego looked at her seriously.

Ruby immediately shook her head in the negative. “No. I just never wanna see him again.”

Diego nodded and gave her shoulders a light squeeze. “Fine. But, you know, he still must be taught a lesson, right, querida?” There was no way her stepfather was going to get a free pass on what he had done. He would respect Ruby’s wishes and he wouldn’t have Lito kill him, but the man was going to know some serious fucking pain.

Ruby just nodded before turning to look at Lito. “Can you do me a favor while you’re there, please?”

Lito nodded.

“In my bedroom, at the top of the stairs on the right, there’s a music box sitting on my dresser. My momma gave it to me when I was real little. It has _Beauty and the Beast_ carved along a wooden base and a spinning glass covered rose on top,” she described it. “Could you get it for me?”

“Of course, he can, mija,” Annalie answered for Lito, smacking him on the chest with the back of her hand. “Right?” She turned to look at her husband.

“I was going to say yes all on my own, Annalie.” Lito rolled his eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The song featured in this chapter is called ‘Nunca’ and is copyrighted © David Hidalgo feat. Los Refugios Tiernos. You may know the opening (censored) verse of this song from the FX television show ‘Mayans MC’.

**_* Audemus jura nostra defendere *_ **

Lito chuckled as he read the Latin motto that had been painted in black over the confederate flag that hung above the fireplace of Carl Washington. It was the Alabama state motto. ‘We dare defend our rights.’ While was sure that most Alabama natives meant that in a strictly patriotic sense, the confederate flag let him know that Carl was not one of those people. Even in the 21st century, people with brown skin were putting themselves in danger simply by traveling to one wrong place below the Mason Dixon Line.

It was one in the morning and the only sound in the house were the shallow breaths coming the unconscious man on the couch. Lito reached out and yanked the man to lay on his side so he didn’t choke to death on his own blood. His puffy face, already bloated from years of alcohol abuse, was completely mangled. Lito hadn’t meant to do that much damage but the redneck fuck had him a wetback under his breath as he had signed the parental consent form at gunpoint. The pendejo was lucky as fuck that Diego had ordered that he be left alive.

Deciding that the house was too silent, Lito turned his phone on and started playing music. The app he used randomly began playing a track on his playlist and the song that serenaded him as he climbed the stairs made him chuckle.

_“Broke our brown backs, chasing Mr. White’s dream,_

_That Bill of Rights was just a pyramid scheme._

_We clawed to the middle and pray for the end._

_Don’t let our children’s children grow up to be them._

_Fuck your pale seniority!_

_Go build your walls,_

_We own the majority!”_

Opening the cheap, hollow-wooden door, Lito found the music box right where Ruby said it would be. He wrapped it in a pale blue scarf that he found draped atop the dresser’s mirror and stowed it safely away in his black rucksack.

Deciding to be nice, he took a quick look around the tiny shoebox of a room looking for anything else the shy teenager might want. Glancing over at the perfectly made daybed with a rose and thorn patterned comforter he saw an odd-looking stuffed toy sitting on the pillow. It was a teacup with a face. Thinking of Annalie and the stuffed Tommy Pickles doll she had held onto since she was a child, he grabbed the grinning teacup and stuffed it into the rucksack with the music box. When he grabbed the toy the pillow had shifted, revealing a red scrapbook laying beneath it. Picking it up, he flipped it open.

“Hostia puta,” Lito whispered to himself as he saw the picture that was surrounded by girly as fuck glittery pink hearts that was on the first page. He couldn’t resist flipping through the homemade book.

_“I am a wolf, a wild cur,_

_Cut from the pack, with blood on my fur._

_Every howl marks a debt,_

_Cause a beaten dog,_

_Never forgets.”_

Lito silenced the music on his phone and laughed a little to himself as he stuffed the scrapbook into his bag. “I can’t wait for mi hermano to see this one.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The song lyrics used in this chapter are copyrighted to Taylor Swift.

Ruby was pretty sure that there wasn’t a store in the _Twelve Oaks Mall_ that Annalie hadn’t insisted they visit. For a poor kid from Alabama it was alarming how freely the little Cuban woman spent money. The two bodyguards that Diego had insisted accompany them everywhere, Logan and Cruz, had been forced to take turns running shopping bags out to Annalie’s bright pink range rover.

Ruby couldn’t believe the upturn swing her life had taken. She had grown so accustomed to living in her stepfather’s drunken hellscape that she had resigned herself to her horrific fate when he had sold her to slimy little Higgins. When Diego de los Santos turned out to be her savior, the story of her life had gone from something out of a George R.R. Martin novel to some kind of wonderful, messed up fairy tale. She just wished she understood what exactly Diego wanted from her. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in Hell that it was the same thing she wanted.

As she sat next to Annalie in a comfortable leather chair with her feet soaking in a warm, bubbly footbath, Ruby let her mind wander…

Ruby wasn’t an idiot. She knew what her new friend’s brick wall of a husband was probably doing to her stepdaddy, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel badly about it. That mean son of a bitch had sold her off like a piece of cattle to be used as some dirty pervert’s sex slave. She actually took a little guilty pleasure in knowing that Lito was likely using Carl as a human punching bag. She listened to the Taylor Swift song that was being blared from the salon’s speakers. Given the number of times Carl had called her a ‘dirty little whore’ some of the lyrics struck a chord.

_“I can feel the flames on my skin,_

_Crimson red paint on my lips._

_If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing!_

_I don’t regret it one bit ‘cause he had it coming…”_

Ruby couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

Annalie turned to look at her with a perfectly plucked eyebrow raised. “What’s so funny, mija?”

“Nothing,” Ruby shook her head. She couldn’t explain the humor of the situation to her even if she tried. Her mind was a strange and messed up place. “Can I ask you something, Annalie?”

“Of course,” Annalie smiled.

“Why is Diego doin’ all of this for me?” She inquired. “Why is he goin’ all out?”

“Because he cares about you,” Annalie shrugged as she turned her attention back to her magazine. She seemed to be a little too interested in an article about the cult-like Duggar family to be believable.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Ruby pressed.

“Don’t worry about it, chica,” Annalie waved an exquisitely manicured hand. “All you need to know is that you’re one of us now. You’re part of the family, mija. We’ve got you."


	16. Chapter 16

After dinner that night, Ruby had insisted upon helping Diego with the washing up.

“I was trafficked, not crippled,” Ruby put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. “I don’t need, nor do I want you to baby me. I can pull my own weight around here.”

The more comfortable Ruby got, the more vocal and opinionated she got. All in all, Diego was extremely pleased by that development. “The only thing that concerned him was how nonchalantly she mentioned her experience with Higgins. It didn’t seem normal and Diego added ‘find a good shrink’ to his mental to-do list.

“Alright, mi reina, you win,” Diego playfully held up his hands. “You can help.”

***

“Diego?”

The man in question damn near jumped out of his skin. Diego was laying on his side of the bed, facing the wall and he had thought Ruby to be fast asleep. “What is it, mi sol?” He rolled over so he was facing her.

“What kinda form is Lito making Carl sign?” Ruby was laying with her head propped up on her hand.

Her question had Diego’s blood pressure shooting up to tachycardic territory. He hadn’t yet been able to come up with a good way of telling her about their impending nuptials. She was just starting to come out of her shell. The last thing he wanted was to send her running back into it.

Diego sat up in bed and reached over and turned on his bedside lamp. He waited for Ruby to sit up before he began speaking. “Remember, this is just an easy way to your step-father’s legal hold on you.”

Ruby nodded but she looked apprehensive.

“Lito’s having Carl sign a parental consent form that will allow you to get married.”

Almost immediately Ruby began to panic. “Who the hell are you making me marry?” The rise and fall of her chest told Diego that if he didn’t calm her down soon, she would have a full-on anxiety attack.

“Ruby, baby, calm down.” Diego reached for her and even though she struggled, pulled her into his lap and wrapped her up in his arms. “It’s me, mi reina. I want you to marry me.”

Ruby stopped struggling. “You? Why?”

“Me.” He couldn’t resist brushing some of her chestnut hair behind her ear and laying a soft kiss on her forehead. “If you're married you are legally considered an adult. You’ll be protected and nothing around here will change. We’ll get the marriage annulled when you turn eighteen, okay?”

“Okay,” Ruby nodded although now she looked sad.

Was the idea of marrying him really that bad? Diego would have to work overtime to convince Ruby he was a husband worth keeping.


	17. Chapter 17

Much to Diego’s displeasure, Annalie had taken up most of Ruby’s weekend with shopping trips all over the city. The only time he spent with her was at meals and in bed at night. Since she had learned of his marriage plans for them, she actively seemed to be avoiding him. That didn’t bode well for his plans for their future. He couldn’t convince her to fall in love with him if she was never fucking around!

On Sunday, Annalie took Ruby out for a spa day. Diego decided to use the free time to pay a visit to his favorite local jeweler. He walked out with a one of a kind, antique diamond engagement ring that he hoped would get his girl’s attention. When Ruby had returned from the shopping trip that Annalie had taken her on on Friday, she had done two things. Number one: She made him aware that shopping with Annalie had been a somewhat freighting experience. Number two: She had shown him her favorite purchase of the day. It wasn’t some overpriced designer dress or a pair of shoes that were sexy but unpractical and a bitch to walk in. No, it was a book, a book of classic fairy tales. Diego had flipped through that book just that morning and found that Ruby had marked her favorite page. The page contained a beautiful color illustration of Beauty from _Beauty and the Beast_ accepting a ring from the Beast after he had transformed back into a handsome prince. The ring that Diego now carried in his pocket had cost him more than he had paid for his penthouse, but it had been worth it. While not an exact match, the ring bore a striking resemblance to the one from Ruby’s book. He couldn’t tell her he loved her for fear of scaring her off, but he could show her how much he cared for her by showing her how well he truly knew her.

When Diego returned to the penthouse, it was to find that Lito had arrived back and was waiting for him in his living room.

“How’d it go, hermano?” He took a seat in his favorite leather armchair.

“I’m pretty sure that good ole boy received your message, and he signed this.” Lito laid the signed parental consent form on the coffee table, complete with bloodstains. Then he took a seat on the couch, his rucksack on the floor at his feet.

“What the hell is that?” Diego made a face as Lito pulled an odd-looking stuffed toy out his rucksack and set it on the couch. It had a safe and was in the shape of a chipped teacup.

“It was on Ruby’s bed,” Lito shrugged, “figured she might want it back.”

“Did you get the music box she asked for?” Diego had big plans for the music box if Lito had succeeded in retrieving it.

Lito reached back down into his rucksack and carefully extracted the _Disney_ -made music box. He gently set it on the table before he took out a scrapbook and passed it over to him. “I thought you might be interested in that too.”

Curiously, Diego opened the cover of the scrapbook. The inside was a teenage girl’s secret shrine to her favorite crush. The book was filled with newspaper and magazine cut-outs as well as photographs and articles that Ruby had obviously printed off of the internet. Normal teenage girls kept this kind of scrapbook about their favorite boyband member or actor. Ruby was not a normal teenage girl…that was for damn sure. The scrapbook that Diego now held in his hands was dedicated to him.

Everything finally clicked for Diego. Ruby had known exactly who and what he was when they had first met. She had told him that he made the news a lot, but she hadn’t told him that she actively looked for any mention of him in the press. Ruby had also said to him that she thought her worst nightmare was coming true when he walked into Higgins's office on the night he rescued her. It was her worst nightmare because she briefly believed that the man that she had a crush on was going to pay to rape her.

A smirk came to Diego’s face. His bebita wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. She wasn’t upset that they were getting married. She was upset because she thought that their marriage wasn’t going to be a real one. He would put her worries to rest as soon as she arrived home.


	18. Chapter 18

The spa that Annalie took her to was almost too upscale for Ruby to be comfortable there. Luckily, Annalie had taken Ruby’s social anxiety into account and reserved them a private room their spa day. Ruby didn’t have to worry that the crème de la crème of Detroit society was watching her, wondering what the little redneck girl thought she was doing on their playground.

“Don’t worry about those catty putas out there, mija.” Annalie seemed to read the younger woman’s mind. “We don’t socialize with those bitches.” She waved a perfectly manicured hand as the two of them lay reclined in comfortable chairs with mud caked on their faces in funny-looking masks.

“Annalie,” Ruby finally got up the courage to broach the subject she had wanted to all day. “I have a problem.”

“I’m listening.”

“Last night, Diego told me that we’re gettin’ married so that I’ll be legally considered an adult.”

“And you’re not down with that idea?” Annalie looked genuinely concerned. “You don’t have to do a damn thing that you don’t want to do, mija. We can find another way. Diego wouldn’t force you into anything and Lito and I wouldn’t let him.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to marry Diego,” Ruby shook her head. “He’s great…and that’s the problem,” she confided. “I don’t want to marry him only to have the marriage annulled in a year. It would hurt too much.”

Annalie’s eyes grew wide. “¡Dios mío! You’re in love with Diego!”

Ruby blushed and nodded meekly. “It started as a crush after I saw him on the news one night when I was thirteen. I never in a million years expected to ever meet him, and I damn sure never expected him to be Prince Charming with a gun.”

Annalie laughed. “Prince Charming with a gun? That’s a good one, mija. Remind me to try that one out on Lito later.”

Ruby glared at her. “You could help me instead of laugh at me, ya know.”

“You don’t need any help,” Annalie rolled her eyes. “There was more than one option to get you emancipated. You could have petitioned the court. Me and Lito could have gotten guardianship of you. Diego is _choosing_ to marry you. He _chose_ to keep you out of the foster system, and he _chooses_ to share his life, bank account, and bed with you. You don’t have a problem, Ruby.”

“Are you saying Diego wants to be my husband…for real?” That seemed to be a little too good to be true. “Why would he say anything about an annulment than?”

“So he didn’t scare you off,” Annalie replied. “When you get home today, talk to your man. You’ll be amazed at what communication can do for your relationship.”


	19. Chapter 19

Diego made sure that he was home waiting, and alone when Ruby returned from her day at the spa with Annalie. He was seated on the couch, and he had placed her scrapbook in the center of the coffee table.

At a little after five, the penthouse door opened, and the guard on the door, Juan, poked his head in. “Boss, Senorita Ruby’s home, sir,” he announced.

Diego rolled his eyes. “She lives here, Juan. Don’t announce the lady of the house.” When Juan still didn’t move, Diego’s temper flared. “Let her in, pendejo!” He snapped.

Ruby was giggling at Juan’s mad dash to allow her entrance when she walked in the door. But when her eyes fell on the scrapbook, the smile swiftly left her lips. The look on her face went from a happy one to one of terror.

“What’s wrong, querida?” He asked the question although he already knew the answer. He held out his hand to try and get her to come closer.

“Did you open that?” Ruby nodded her head at the scrapbook and ignored his hand.

Diego slowly nodded.

Ruby’s eyes pooled with tears. Her face turned so red that Diego half-expected steam to start pouring out of her ears. Seeing his girl in such distress, he quickly got to his feet and moved to gather her up in his arms. “It’s alright, mi amor,” he whispered into her hair.

“You probably think I’m some silly little girl now,” she mumbled into his chest, where she had buried her face in embarrassment.

Diego chuckled huskily. He gently pushed her back so that he could cup her cheek in his hand and force her to meet his gaze. “I think it explains why you’ve always been so comfortable accepting my touch, why you come willingly to my bed every night instead of sleeping in the guest room, why you let me hold you when you’re upset.” He ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “You want me just as much as I want you, sweetheart.”

Ruby gasped. Her eyes darted up to meet his.

Diego smiled. Then he did what he had wanted to do since the moment he had first laid eyes on her. He dropped a quick, soft, and chaste kiss to her lips. “You get it now?” He asked once they parted.

“You really do want to marry me.” There was a touch of awe to her tone. “Are you sure you’re not doing any of this out of some weird sense of obligation? If you want me, you don’t need a marriage license.”

Diego felt a touch exasperated. “Querida, you are NOT an obligation to me. If I only wanted to help you, I would have let you go into the system or sent you to live with Lito and Annalie. I brought you home with me because I want you …in every way, including legally. I want to be tied to you.” He told her the God’s honest truth. “I always call you ‘querida.’ Do you know what that actually means?”

“Darling, dear, or sweetheart. In certain contexts, it can also mean lover.”

Diego smiled. He was impressed. “¿Tu hablas español?”

“Un poco,” Ruby replied.

Diego reached over and grabbed Ruby’s music box off of the end table next to the couch. When he had discovered that the delicate glass case that protected the porcelain rose came off, he had placed Ruby’s engagement ring at the base of the rose. He handed the music box to his girl.

When Ruby’s eyes landed on the ring, she brought a hand up to cover her mouth, and the pool of tears in her eyes refreshed themselves. She removed the glass carefully, and Diego picked up the ring.

“You understand Spanish, so, let’s see if you understand this.” He caught her gaze and held it before he held up the ring with his thumb and index finger. “Te quiero, Ruby. ¿Serás la el belleza a mi bestia? Will you marry me, querida?”

“For real?” Ruby looked like she was trying her best not to get her hopes up.

“For real, baby,” Diego nodded. “What do you say?”

Ruby smiled, and a single teardrop managed to escape her eye. “I say that I love you too.”

“Does that mean you’ll marry me…and stay married to me once you turn eighteen?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, it does.” Ruby set the music box aside and held out her hand so Diego could slip the ring on her finger.

Once the diamond ring was where it rightfully belonged, Diego pulled Ruby in for what was only their second kiss ever. This time, he allowed himself to kiss her deeper and more passionately…because he knew that he finally could.


	20. Chapter 20

Diego ran his tongue along the seam of Ruby’s lips. He was asking for entrance and she readily granted it. He leisurely explored her mouth before allowing his tongue to gently duel with hers. When Ruby moaned into his mouth and started to press herself more firmly against him – her soft breasts pressing against his bare chest – Diego made himself pull back before things ended up going too far too quickly.

“Why’d you stop?” Ruby whined, partly out of breath with rosy red cheeks.

Diego smirked. “Because if you kept moaning like that, I was going to end up doing something that won’t be legal until we say our vows.”

Ruby, not seemingly in control of herself again and blushing redder than ever before, mumbled, “Sorry.”

“Never be sorry for letting me know that you want me, mi reina.” Diego sat back against the couch cushions and pulled her straddle his lap. It wasn’t helping to calm his libido any, but he really didn’t fucking care. He had his girl and she loved him. He didn’t want to let her too far out of his reach. “Because I’m not sorry for wanting you, and I do, all the time.” Ruby blushed some more, and he couldn’t resist laying a kiss on the top of her button nose. “We just have to wait until we’re married. If someone found out that I took you to bed before the wedding, I could get locked up.”

“But who am I going to tell?” Ruby surprised him by continuing to argue.

“Annalie,” he replied pointedly. “And – she won’t mean to – but she will probably inadvertently tell the whole damn city of Detroit. The woman can’t help herself.”

Ruby laughed and nodded. She knew he was speaking the truth. Annalie had become like a hybrid big sister/best friend to her but nobody’s perfect. Annalie was a gossip. There was no way around that fact.

“And” Diego continued, “I invited my pops over for dinner with us tonight. We can’t have the old man walking in and catching us going at it. He’d drop dead of a heart attack.” Diego smirked even wider when Ruby unconsciously rocked forward on his lap. “Besides,” he reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand. “I kind of like the idea of my wife coming to our marriage bed a virgin. It makes you exclusively mine. No other man but I had or will ever touch you.” Diego was possessive and he owned it.

“Diego,” this time Ruby was the one who was smirking. “I’ve been yours since before we even met…and that ain’t changing. Wedding or no wedding, you will be the only man who touches me. I swear it.”

Diego couldn’t resist, he pulled her down for another steamy kiss.

This was exactly how his father found them when Juan let him into the penthouse. “Diego!”


	21. Chapter 21

Diego and Ruby broke apart to find a disapproving Máximo standing in the entrance way. Ruby had the good sense to look sheepish and got off of Diego’s lap post haste. Diego, on the other hand, just had a cocky grin on his handsome face as he calmly greeted his father. 

“Hey, Papà,” Diego got to his feet and held out his hand to help his fiancé to her feet. “There’s someone here that I want you to meet – ”

“The pretty girl you were just mauling?” Máximo raised an eyebrow at him and for some reason, the resemblance between father and son had never been uncannier.

“If by pretty girl, you mean my fiancé than, yes, that is who I’d like you to meet.” He led Ruby over to where his father stood. “Ruby, this my father Máximo. Papa, this is my bride-to-be, Ruby.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. de los Santos.” Ruby held out her hand. 

Máximo laughed and ignoring her outstretched hand, leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You can call me Max…or Papà since it seems you’re joining the family, mija.” He turned to look at Diego. “Mijo, can I speak with you in the kitchen?”

Diego already had a pretty good idea what his old man wanted to talk about and nodded before turning to look at Ruby. “Mi amor, since I know you’re dying to, why don’t you run across the hall and show Annalie your ring? Invite her and Lito over for dinner. I meant to earlier, but I forgot.”

Ruby smiled and kissed his cheek. “Okay. Be back in a little while. What time should I tell them dinner will be?”

“Six.”

Once Ruby had departed, Diego looked at his father and jerked his head to him to follow him. “I invited Tio Marco. Where is he?”

“Shut up in his house acting like an old pendejo because he refused to take any helpful criticism,” Máximo huffed.

Translation: His father had insulted his uncle’s cooking for the millionth time and now Marco was pouting at home. Par for the course. Once in the kitchen, Diego checked on the lamb in the over while his old man started in on her. 

“Diego, I’m only going to ask this question one time and I expect you to be honest with me, son. How old, exactly is Ruby?”


	22. Chapter 22

“It doesn’t matter,” Diego shut the oven door and turned around so he could lean back against the marble counter. “I love her, and she loves me.” He folded his arms across his chest.

“So, she is underage?” Máximo ran a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ, Diego, need I remind you that you are thirty-eight-years-old? I was there when you were born, so trust me, mijo, I know.”

Diego took a deep breath and counted to ten. The last thing he wanted was to lose his temper with his father. “Pops, how about instead of just assuming the worst about me like you always do, you actually give me the benefit of the doubt and let me explain myself first?”

“Fine,” Máximo was glaring at his son. “I’m listening. Make it good.”

Diego proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes explaining to his father how he had come to have Ruby in his life. He usually kept his old man in the dark about most aspects of his life, but he was an open book just this once.

“Ruby was the friend you told me you were helping?” Máximo’s tone had significantly softened. It no longer held that judgmental tone that grated on Diego’s nerves, and that had proven to be a catalyst for many a father/son screaming match.

Diego nodded as he put a pot of water on the stove to boil. It was a special occasion, so he was making Ruby’s favorite mushroom risotto to go with the lamb. “Yeah, and I won’t lie, Papá, I’ve been attracted to her since the moment I saw her, but living with her and getting to know her…I really couldn’t help but fall in love with her. I want to take care of her, Papá. I want to give her a future, a family…her happily ever after.”

“When did you become so poetic, mijo?” Máximo raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Happily ever after? You’ve never used that phrase before.”

Diego laughed. His old man had a point. “Ruby loves Beauty and the Beast. I’m the beast to her beauty.”

Máximo joined in his son’s laughter just as Ruby appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Annalie and Lito will be over in twenty minutes,” Ruby announced. “What in the world is so funny?” She gave Diego and Máximo a strange look.

Máximo wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes before walking up to his future daughter-in-law and kissing her cheek. “I think you’ve broken my son, mija, and I can’t thank you enough. Please, don’t fix him. I like him this way.”

Ruby simply shot Diego a quizzical look as he finally stopped laughing. Shaking her head, she walked over and gave him a soft kiss. “I’m going to go and set the table, but I want to know what has ya’ll so amused later,” she playfully warned as she pulled away.

Diego nodded and winked at her.

Once she was out of the room, Máximo smiled at his son. “She’s a real novia. You could have done much worse.”

Diego smirked. “I couldn’t have done better. I don’t deserve her.”

Máximo nodded. “You always remember that, and your marriage will be a happy one.”


	23. Chapter 23

“So, what was so funny earlier?” Ruby inquired later that night. She was putting the leftovers in the fridge while Diego wiped down the counters with a dish rag. Their guests had departed only a short time earlier.

Diego smirked as he threw the dish rag on the countertop. “My pop’s was amused that you had me talking about fairy tales.” He turned and leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Um…what?” Ruby chuckled as she closed the fridge.

“I told him that I wanted to give you your happily ever after.” Diego laughed. “Papa said he’d never heard me use that phrase before. He even used the word ‘poetic,’ which, to be fair, is a word that I’ve never heard _him_ say before. You might have broken us both, querida.” He reached out his hand to her. “Come here,” he demanded.

Ruby didn’t need to be told twice. She immediately went into the warmth of his arms.

Taking one arm from around her waist, he reached up to gently cup her cheek in his hand. “Are you sire you really want this, mi reina?” Diego was downright terrified that Ruby would come to her senses and up and leave him. He would never think of stopping her, but he wasn’t sure how he’d handle it, or even if he would be able to. You didn’t become a boss by being 100% mentally stable.

Ruby reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m positive…my rey.” She was the one smirking now.

There was something highly arousing in the way that she spoke Spanish with a very soft southern drawl. Leaning down, Diego took her lips in a soft kiss. He didn’t let things go too far this time though. He didn’t want to test his self-control too much.

Ruby’s pretty brown eyes were cast down and hidden from his gaze by her long eyelashes when they separated. “Can we get married soon?” Her voice was a shy whisper that Diego hadn’t heard her speak with in a while.

“Look at me, Ruby,” Diego demanded firmly. “No wife of mine will be scared to speak her mind. Talk to me.”

Ruby’s eyes met his. “When Annalie and I were out earlier, we stopped by Wayne County Community College. I picked up an admissions packet. It would be easier for me to get my G.E.D. and enroll if we were married and I didn’t need a parent’s signature.”

“You want to go to college?” He brushed some of her hair behind her ear. Why had she been scared to tell him that?

She nodded. “I’ve kinda always wanted to be a teacher since I was little.”

“Then we’ll make it happen.” Diego kissed her again. “Is that the only reason you want to get married soon?” He couldn’t resist teasing her a bit.

Ruby’s cheeks flushed. “You know its not.” She didn’t look away, but she was clearly flustered.

“How about Christmas Eve?” Diego pulled her a little closer to him.

It was the week before Thanksgiving so that gave them a little over a month to put something together.

Ruby smiled happily. “I’d love that,” she nodded.

“I love you,” Diego nuzzled his nose against hers.

“I love you too,” Ruby replied, leaning in to meet his kiss.


	24. Chapter 24

That night, as they climbed into bed together, Ruby appeared to be just as anxious, if not more so, than the first night that they had shared a bed. Diego found it both hysterically funny and incredibly adorable.

“What has you so shy tonight, mi amor?” Diego lay on his back with his head propped up on a stack of pillows.

“I feel a little strange.” Ruby blushed as she sat up beside him, looking down towards him but not quite looking at him. “This is the first night we’ve spent in his bed together since you learned how I feel about you.”

“You learned how I feel about you too, Ruby,” he gently reminded her. “You don’t have to feel strange just because we love each other. I promise my chest is just as comfortable as always.”

Ruby giggle, which was precisely what Diego wanted to see. Her shoulders, that before had been tense and stiff, visibly relaxed.

“Would you please bring your fine ass down here, nena, I’m lonely.” Diego was speaking like the street punk that he hadn’t been in a very long time, but he didn’t care.

Ruby immediately and happily obliged his request. Laying down beside him, she moved over and laid her head on his chest.

“That’s better.” Diego wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. This was still a slight tenseness that he could feel in her body, and that disturbed him. “Ruby, why can’t you relax, sweetheart?”

Ruby didn’t sit up. She didn’t even lookup. “I’ve always believed in happily ever after but, until today, I didn’t know that I’d have such a hard time trusting it. I’m not as naive as you think I am. My own mother was proof that not everyone gets their happily ever after. Why should I get one when she didn’t?”

Ruby’s words hit Diego harder than he would have ever admitted. Given his own mother’s history and fate, he completely understood exactly how she felt. “I don’t get it either, querida. But who are we to fate? Are we supposed to be unhappy just because our moms were? I don’t think we are. I think our moms wanted more for us than they had. They would want us to be happy. I’m sure of it.”

Diego smiled to himself when he felt Ruby cuddle in all the more closer. He had to bite back a groan when she softly kissed his bare chest. “You’re mi rey. You’re just gonna have to me some time to adjust. I’m not used to feeling this happy.”


	25. Chapter 25

“Big problem, Diego.” Lito stomped into his warehouse office.

“What?” Diego didn’t bother looking up from the contracts on his desk. He had managed to work a deal to legally purchase a handful more docks on the waterfront that would increase the profits of his above-board businesses tenfold. Lito tended to take everything a little too seriously, so he wasn’t overly concerned.

“The cops pulled Sid’s body out of the water this morning.”

Okay, that fucking concerned him. “How is that fucking possible?” He demanded to know. “I told Liam to have Ryan handle it.” Ryan Mills was Diego’s cleaner. He removed all trace evidence from crime scenes and disposed of bodies by driving them out of state to the nearest ocean. He used a boat to take bodies out into international waters to dump them. “What ocean did they pull Sid out of?”

“Liam swears he called Ryan and watched as he scrubbed the dock.” Lito crossed his arms over his chest. “He says he helped load the body into Ryan’s truck. Liam’s never lied or been disloyal.” He shook his head.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t start now.” Diego rubbed his chin. “The ocean?” He asked again.

“He wasn’t pulled from the ocean. Cops pulled him out of the river…the Detroit River,” Lito stressed.

Diego got to his feet and pulled his gun from its holster. “Make this fucking disappear.” He passed the gun to Lito. “Melt that shit down.”

Lito nodded and tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans.

“I’m gonna take Ruby and leave town until this shit blows over, and we know what the fuck happened with Ryan.” Diego gave his second-in-command instructions as he grabbed a few things out of his wall safe. “I want you to monitor everything going on with the police investigation. I’ll handle Ryan myself. You’re in charge while I’m gone. Keep Annalie out of…everything. You know the drill.”

“You got it, man.”

***

Diego dialed the penthouse as he was being driven towards it. Ruby answered on the second ring.

“Querida,” he tried to keep his tone light, so he didn’t scare her. “I need you to pack a few bags. We’re going away for a little while.”

“Why?” Ruby sounded suspicious.

“I got a little trouble here in the city. I need to be a ghost while it’s being handled.” He told her the truth.

Ruby sighed. “Where are we going?”

“Cuba.”

There was silence for a moment before Ruby responded. “Mi rey, I don’t have a passport.”

Diego chuckled. “Trust me, baby. You won’t need one.”


	26. Chapter 26

“How come I didn’t need a passport?” Ruby asked as Diego’s plane took off from a private airstrip just outside of Warren.

“Because we’re going to a private island off of Cuba’s coast. I’m an American, and I own it, so, technically, it’s considered American soil, and we’re flying privately,” Diego explained as he settled into his leather seat and lifted the armrest so he could pull her to cuddle into his side. Night had fallen, and the only light in the cabin came from the small lamps above their seats, making it feel cozy and romantic.

Ruby was distracted from cuddling by his words. “You own a friggin’ island?” She leaned back and looked at him in shock.

“They’re not that expensive,” Diego shrugged. “It’s only two miles around and cost me less than our penthouse.”

Ruby chuckled and shook her head. “Mi rey, you and me have two very different definitions of the word expensive.”

Diego rolled his eyes. He hated discussing money. He found it uncouth, downright tacky. “Woman, would you please come here? I haven’t had you in my arms all day.”

“Will you tell me what’s going on?” Ruby raised a single eyebrow. His girl wasn’t stupid. He had known this question was coming and was honestly surprised she had waited this long to ask.

“The cops found Sid somewhere that he shouldn’t have been,” Diego told her cryptically. “One of my employees seems to have gone off-script. I need to handle it before we go home.” He hoped she accepted his explanation because he would not tell her anything more. He wouldn’t put his future wife in a position to catch a charge just in case shit went sideways. The same rules that were in place for Annalie also went for Ruby. For her own good, he would only tell her what she absolutely needed to know and nothing more.

Ruby studied him for a moment, and she must have found what she was looking for. “Okay,” she nodded and leaned in to kiss his cheek, but Diego wasn’t having it. He turned his head at the last second and caught her lips in a heated kiss.

“Does this mean we’ll have to postpone the wedding?” Ruby asked when they managed to pry themselves apart. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously.

“Hell no,” Diego shook his head and said firmly. “I don’t care if I have to import a priest and get hitched on the island. I’m marrying you on Christmas Eve, mi reina.” He reached up and tapped the lip that she was snacking on. “Stop biting your lip. That’s my job.”

Ruby blushed, but she did as he told her.

“Now get your sexy ass over here.” Diego pulled her into his arms, and this time, she went without complaint.


End file.
